When Apple (AAPL) first announced its new wireless "AirPods" headphones in September during an event, the iPhone giant touted the new product as forging the path toward an inevitably wireless future.
But three months since unveiling the $159 headphones at its keynote September event, Apple still has yet to make AirPods available to customers. The company's landing page for the product still sits stagnant, stating the pods are "currently unavailable."
Now nearly two weeks into December, Apple is running out of time to launch the headphones during the holiday shopping season.
The delay in shipping the pods could be because Apple, which did not return a request for comment, is still wrestling with the technology. Sources told the Wall Street Journal that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company is having trouble syncing wireless signals to both pods.
In other wireless headsets, a digital signal is sent to only one of the pieces before being transmitted to the other. Apple's new product, however, operates by receiving two independent signals: one to each ear piece. But the company has struggled getting the two signals to send at precisely the same time in order to eliminate distortion, sources told the Journal.
The company also has yet to determine what to do if customers lose just one of the pods, or if the battery on one but not both of them dies.
"We need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers," an Apple spokesperson told the Journal. "We don't believe in shipping a product before it's ready."
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